Page 63 of House of Embers (Royal Houses #5)

Chapter Fifty-Four

The Preparations

Once the portal was open, Kerrigan gave Darby a hug as Amita flew across to Galanthea.

“Take care of them, okay?” Kerrigan said, her voice cracking.

Darby hugged her tighter. “I will do my best.” She pulled back. “Careful opening the other portals. And go see Amond before the battle, all right? He might be able to patch you up a bit.”

Kerrigan nodded. “I will.”

A throat cleared, and they turned to see Hadrian and Fallon standing before the portal.

“Not to break up the goodbyes,” Hadrian said with a wide smile.

“Hadrian,” Darby gasped, and then she was through the portal and into his arms.

“Hey, Darbs,” he said on a sigh. His head lifted to look at Kerrigan. “Want to explain why all the dragon riders went out of their minds?”

“I broke the dragon bonds.”

Fallon’s hand went to his heart as if it ached all over again. “What are we going to do without our dragons?”

Darby brightened. “I can show you how to fix the bond. Kerrigan’s sending me to train your riders.”

“A new bond?” Fallon asked.

Kerrigan nodded. “One that doesn’t tie your lifelines together. A safer option.”

“I’ll try anything,” he admitted.

“Darby is your girl. She knows how to do it.”

Darby explained the mechanics to Fallon, and after a few minutes, he breathed a sigh of relief that he was back in conversation with his dragon. As if the entire world was right again.

“Brilliant,” Hadrian said. “And you can do that because…”

“We have a lot to discuss,” Darby said with a grin. “I haven’t been idle since you and Clover have been off saving the world.”

Hadrian laughed. “Speaking of, are you ready to go get our girl?”

“Yes, please,” she said.

“Give my regards to Clover,” Kerrigan said. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Before you go,” Fallon said. “We retrieved people from Elsiande like you asked.”

Kerrigan’s eyes lit up. “I thought you said it was a lost cause.”

Hadrian shrugged. “Fallon is an excellent negotiator. If we win this, I think he’ll be vying for a council position.”

Fallon shrugged. “I wouldn’t say no to it.” He gestured to a harried group standing just out of range of the portal. “Shall I send them through?”

Tears blurred Kerrigan’s eyes as she saw Ellerby and his nephew Ever. Ellerby had originally been the one who was going to sponsor her when she was in the House of Dragons. They’d saved his nephew after he’d been kidnapped and held by the Red Masks.

She had wanted to extract them and anyone they thought was part of their cause if they could. Her entire war council had argued against it. No one could know if people from Elsiande were still loyal to Bastian. But she wasn’t taking fighters; she was taking refugees. People she wanted to keep safe.

“Kerrigan,” Ellerby said, drawing her into a hug. “My dear girl, thank you for getting us out.”

She sniffled. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“I brought you a present too,” he said eagerly.

Then he brought forward a small Fae female with gray at her temples. “Hello, dear. My name is Eira. Ellerby mentioned that you were asking around for people who knew Bastian when he lived in Elsiande?”

“I am,” Kerrigan confirmed. “Were you familiar with him then?”

“I was never close with him,” Eira admitted. “But I was friends with his wife for a time. Poor dear. Terrible thing that happened to her.”

“Would you mind telling me about it once I’m through with my work today?”

“Well, of course,” Eira said.

“Thank you,” Kerrigan said, ushering Eira through the portal with the rest of the refugees. She waved at Hadrian and Fallon from across the portal. “I love you. I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Good luck,” Hadrian said, and then she snapped the portal closed.

Which meant Bryonica awaited.

Kerrigan breathed out before opening her portal to their eastern allies. The portal opened in a clearing outside Rosemont. Audria waited there as planned. Her hand was on her heart, and she looked heartbroken.

“My bond,” Audria said as if she were going to burst into tears.

Kerrigan stepped through and pulled Audria into a hug. “We can fix it.”

“Thank the gods. What happened?”

Kerrigan gave the same explanation to Audria as she had the rest of her soldiers and showed her how to make a crux bond. Audria only settled down when the bond was in place and Evien was once again in contact.

“Some forewarning might have been good,” Audria said.

“I wish I’d had some,” Kerrigan said.

“That explains why you were always so strange in dragon training.”

“Right?” Kerrigan said with a laugh. “It explains everything.”

Audria shook her head. “I can’t imagine how you were able to mask it for a whole year.”

“They put me on probation and then kicked me out, if you remember.”

“Yeah, well, that had more to do with their prejudices than your performance.”

Kerrigan shrugged. “A little bit of both?”

“Fair,” Audria said. “I did the other thing that you requested.”

“Roake?”

“Fully on Bastian’s side,” she said with a crack in her voice.

Kerrigan’s face fell. “I’m sorry.”

“You were right to ask me to do it though,” Audria said, glancing down at her cracked nails. “I thought…”

“Me too,” Kerrigan whispered.

She hadn’t been sure if Roake would change. Some part of her had hoped that he would after she’d met up with him in the mountain. If given the opportunity, would he double-cross Bastian? If the love of his life dangled it before him…

It hurt to know he was truly a lost cause.

“Thank you for trying,” Kerrigan said.

Audria nodded, choking back her tears. “His bond snapped too.”

“Yeah. It broke all of them at once.”

“Which means we’re the only ones with bonded dragons,” Audria said.

Kerrigan nodded. “That’s right.”

Audria grinned. “Excellent.”

“You get your other dragon riders bonded. Have Noda help,” Kerrigan said. “I’ll meet you in Kinkadia.”

“See you there,” Audria said.

Kerrigan headed back toward her door but turned around before crossing over. “Audria, if I see Roake in the battle…”

“I know,” Audria said with a final nod. “You’ll kill him.”

Kerrigan met her gaze. “Are you okay with that?”

“If I see him in battle, I’ll do it myself.” Then Audria walked toward the palace over the sea.

Kerrigan sighed, watching her retreating back for a moment before crossing over and letting the portal drop.

Fordham was there to catch her as she sagged forward from the magic use. “Too much, love. That’s too much.”

“Need to recover my reserves,” she said.

“It’s the crown. It still has its hooks in you.”

She wrapped her arms around him. “Just give me a minute. I’ll be all right.”

“Do you need me to say it?”

She shook her head. “Please don’t.”

He rested his chin on her head. They both knew that she wasn’t physically prepared for what was to come tomorrow. Time had run out. She couldn’t restore her magic enough to fight Bastian, but she was going to have to do it anyway.

“I still need to meet with Eira, and I promised Darby that I’d see Amond before bed.”

“Good. At least you’ll listen to Darby.”

She chuckled. “I don’t think it’s even an option to disobey. I need some healing, or tomorrow will be impossible.”

“And Eira?”

She bit her lip. “Any information helps.”

“After this, you will let me take care of you.”

She glanced up into his handsome face. “And who is going to take care of you?”

“I’m a king,” he said, hoisting her up into his arms. “All that matters is my queen.”